Judge clears way for sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars yet again
By Hadas Gold CNN CNN Alex Jones far-right platform Infowars can be sold once again to help pay the more than billion he owes the families of Sandy Hook shooting casualties a Texas district court judge has ordered Judge Maya Guerra Gamble mentioned in a Wednesday hearing that Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems will be turned over to a court-appointed receiver who will be responsible for selling the assets and using the proceeds to pay Jones debts to the Sandy Hook families The order paves the way for The Onion to revive its bid for the conspiracy-driven outlet and its assets Last year the satirical news outlet had initially won a court-mandated auction for Infowars parent company backed by the Sandy Hook families However in December a federal bankruptcy judge halted the sale citing concerns with the auction process and disputes over the bids The judge later announced the families should pursue what they re owed in state court rather than at the federal level Jones was unveiled guilty in for defamation after repeatedly claiming on-air that the Sandy Hook massacre in which six adults and children were killed was a hoax He has yet to pay a single cent of the more than billion in damages he owes the families On his show Wednesday Jones railed against the families and declared he was pissed off over the ruling although he acknowledged being resigned to the fact that Infowars will likely have to shut down Jones is free to keep broadcasting his show and he has reported he will do so under a different brand Attorneys for the casualties families meanwhile celebrated Wednesday s ruling The present day s order brings us a critically fundamental step closer to achieving the goal that the Connecticut families have spent years fighting for holding Alex Jones accountable for years of harm explained Chris Mattei an attorney for the Connecticut-based families The receiver is now authorized to liquidate his business assets and we look forward to the corrupt media empire that Jones built decisively being dismantled Mark Bankston an attorney for the Texas-based families added that they pleased with the ruling which will certainly lead to accountability for Alex Jones monstrously cruel harassment The Onion had planned to turn Infowars into a humorous send-up of the conspiracy-driven right-wing media ecosystem that allows figures like Jones to flourish Their plans have also included an special advertising agreement with Everytown for Gun Safety a gun-control advocacy group The Onion did not comment on the latest developments but the outlet has previously stated that it was open to all options and plans to keep pursuing the sale
